Erie trustees choose Dan Woog to fill seat vacated by Jonathan Hager

Former Trustee Paul Ogg's empty seat to be dealt with later

ERIE -- A glimmer of consensus shone in Erie on Tuesday night when the sharply divided Board of Trustees agreed to fill the seat held by Jonathan Hager, who resigned earlier in the day, with Planning Commissioner Dan Woog.

In a compromise vote, the board agreed unanimously to take applications rather than directly appointing someone to the remaining open seat, which was vacated by Paul Ogg on Sept. 25 after he announced he and his family were leaving town.

Trustees Mark Gruber and Janice Moore took the position that opening up the process to everyone by accepting applications for both seats was the best way to go, but Gruber offered a last-minute friendly amendment containing the compromise when he realized he and Moore wouldn't prevail.

Mayor Pro Tem Ronda Grassi said Woog, who was not in attendance Tuesday, was a non-controversial choice and made sense as an appointee given the fact that he was the runner-up in the 2012 trustee election. She said he also brings other important attributes to the board.

"Dan Woog wasn't just the next vote-getter, he is on the Planning Commission and he's a business owner in town," she said. "He's the demographic of Erie -- he's got a young family with young children."

The day began with the resignation of Hager, 50, who said a divorce had forced him to live in Boulder for the last few months, a development that became a concern with several of his colleagues who questioned the propriety of him representing constituents in Erie while no longer living there.

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In an email sent Tuesday morning to his fellow trustees, Hager specifically blamed Mayor Joe Wilson and others on the board for exploiting his personal life as part of an attempt to drive him out.

"Although I hoped to remain on the board through the April election, and have my seat filled by the voice of the voters, it is clear that the mayor and his proxies on the board are fighting hard for the opportunity to appoint their own hand-picked supporters," he wrote. "While it is frustrating and difficult to understand their motivations, I cannot sit by and let them use my family situation as a distraction from the important issues that this board has to deal with."

Erie Trustee Jonathan Hager (courtesy photo)

Hager was first elected to the Erie Board of Trustees in April 2012.

Wilson wrote in an email late Tuesday that "the only person to mention or exploit Jon Hager's 'family situation' has been Jon Hager himself."

"Trustee Ogg did the honorable thing by resigning when he moved away from Erie and, eventually, Jonathan followed his lead," Wilson wrote.

Grassi said the board had actually been sensitive to Hager's situation by giving him time to resolve it. She said it only became public when Hager made reference to it Sept. 25, as Ogg was announcing his resignation.

Hager's departure could significantly reshuffle the dynamics on the board, which appeared to be headed into a six-month standoff, with three trustees -- Hager, Moore and Gruber -- generally voting together and Wilson, Grassi and Trustee Joe Carnival often voting the other way.

Erie Mayor Joe Wilson (courtesy photo)

The next election featuring local races in Erie isn't until April.

Exactly how the board will vote or whether a new majority will form now that Woog will join it remains to be seen. Wilson endorsed Woog during last year's election.

The board's inability to reach consensus without a seventh member was put on vivid display during a special Oct. 4 meeting designed to find a replacement for Ogg. The six trustees quickly devolved into bitter backbiting and personal attacks.

Hager said in an interview Tuesday that he hoped the board would take a deliberative approach to finding replacements for both Ogg and himself.

"The other idea is to handpick a couple of replacements, and that circumvents democracy," he said. "Hopefully the people in April will put some new people on the board and redirect the town in a way that is better for the community."

Gruber said he wants to find out the positions of candidates to the board on some of the important issues facing Erie -- the Golden Run development, the airport expansion proposal and economic incentives for retail establishments -- before making a choice about who should get the seat.

"There are big issues, and I, for one, would like to know how people are thinking about these things before voting yea or nay to put them on the board," Gruber said.

No date was set for Woog's swearing-in or for when the board would start accepting applications for the final seat.

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